Trump Appoints Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy As Interim NASA Administrator
President Donald Trump has announced he is appointing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as the interim NASA Administrator.
What Happened: The president took to social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday to make the announcement. "I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA," he said.
He outlined how Duffy had done a "TREMENDOUS" job in his role with the U.S. government, "creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control System," he said. He lauded Duffy for making America's roads and bridges "efficient and beautiful again."
"He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time," Trump said in the post.
The announcement comes as over 2,145 senior employees are set to depart the space agency, mostly from the high-ranked GS-13 to GS-15 designations, reserved for personnel with specialized skills, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The departure follows proposed budget cuts for NASA that would see over 5,000 personnel cut from the workforce and budget slashed by 25%, the report suggests.
Source: Truth Social
Why It Matters: The news comes as Trump had previously appointed and later withdrawn Jared Isaacman‘s nomination for the administrator position, citing Isaacman's previous political associations.
Trump's removal of Isaacman served as a point of contention between him and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is a close associate of Isaacman. It's worth noting that Isaacman shared Musk's vision to visit Mars. “We will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars,” Isaacman had said in the U.S. Senate.
Elsewhere, the U.S. government allocated over $1.25 billion towards the operations of the International Space Station, despite Musk's repeated calls to de-orbit the ISS, citing safety concerns.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Read Next:
Photo courtesy: Pandora Pictures / Shutterstock.com
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
